ABSTRACT
Indian and Oxus cobras have an average adult length of 1.2 to 1.5 m, with a maximum of 2 m. The hood of the Indian cobra is the most pronounced of any of the cobras and dorsal hood marks have the appearance of a pair of spectacles. The king cobra or hamadryad, Ophiophagus hannah, is the largest of the Asian venomous snakes, reaching lengths of 2.1 to 4.0 m. The saw-scaled viper, Echis carinatus, has a broad distribution, from Sri Lanka, southern India, across southern Asia, the Middle East, North Africa, and south to tropical Africa. Russell's viper, Vipera russelli, is the leading cause of venomous snakebite in humans in India and Burma, but the fatality rate is lower than that resulting from bites from kraits, cobras, and saw-scaled vipers. Many snakes are nocturnal and accidental encounters may occur when humans or animals are about during the night. Many species enter human and animal habitations in search of rodents.
